A double roller, or mangle, has been in use for many years in laundries. Even now, large, automated mangles are used for fabric dewatering. Double rollers of many types are used for removal of liquids from fibers, fabrics, and polymers. Mangles are ideally suited for removing liquids from materials like fibers, fabrics, and polymers due to their interlocked or interlocking nature. The materials either are or can form sheets, and the mangle can pull them in and push them through the rollers.
Double rollers are also used for crushing in industries like mineral processing, though these are not typically called mangles. Double rollers can be used to make briquettes by adding a binder to a powder and applying high pressures. In both cases, no solid-liquid separations occur.
Mangles would normally be avoided for separating liquids from non-fibrous particulates, such as crushed ores, solid precipitates, and frozen condensed gases, because these materials do not interlock and form the required interlocking sheets. However, while these may not interlock and form sheets, appropriately applied compression can cause them to compress, agglomerate, clump, fuse, sinter, or be pressed. With sufficient pressure, these can even be compressed sufficiently to drive liquids out of interstitial spaces and form briquettes or similar. A mangle or double roller system capable of separating liquids and solids in this manner is needed.
United States patent publication number 3562227, to Drusco, et al., teaches a process for separating polymerization solvent media from elastomeric polymers. After various chemical separation steps, the polymer is separated from the liquid phase by centrifuge or mangle, and the polymer is recycled. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure in that the solid-liquid separation involves removing polymers, an interlocking solid, from liquids. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the devices disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated for reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.
United States patent publication number 1631423, to Anton, teaches a method for purifying iron scale. The iron scale and gangue material are passed through the double rollers. The rollers have rubber or other soft surface so that hard ores embed in them and do not fall onto the conveyor belt, iron scale crushes and passes through, and a blower blows away light particulates so that they leave the scale. The present disclosure differs from this disclosure in that only solid-solid separations are accomplished. This disclosure is pertinent and may benefit from the methods disclosed herein and is hereby incorporated for reference in its entirety for all that it teaches.